A ‘Repudiation’ of Trump Budget

"The deal reached by Congress this weekend on an omnibus budget for the current 2017 fiscal year included key victories for universities and higher ed advocates. It also looked like at least a preliminary rejection of the draconian budget blueprint offered by the Trump administration for the next federal fiscal year," Inside Higher Ed reports.

"The spending agreement, which funds the government through September, restores year-round Pell Grant funding, a longtime priority sought by student aid groups since its elimination as a cost-saving measure in 2011. The deal also funds the National Institutes of Health at $2 billion more than 2016 levels. And it provides modest increases to college readiness programs TRIO and GEAR UP, which were reduced significantly in the proposed White House 2018 budget plan.

Where higher ed groups didn't gain important, if modest, wins like year-round Pell -- a policy that has received bipartisan backing -- the budget agreement mostly maintained the status quo.

'This is a congressional rebuff of the administration's funding request,' said Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. 'And it's an acknowledgment that realistically you can't slash budgets midyear.'"

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